See You
by StephanieIrvine
Summary: He's leaving, more importantly he's leaving her behind - he doesn't want to, but he has to.


**A/N: **Found this on my computer, I'd forgotten all about it until I was sorting out my story folder and found it. It takes place when Chris left the company for those God awful two years. This is the night of his leaving. Hope it's alright, bear in mind I wrote it like a year or something ago? I'm not even sure.

**Disclaimer:**__Chris and Stephanie aren't mine, and I just use them in situations I want them to be in.

**See You  
**

So this was it huh? Fifteen years of wrestling and tonight was his final night. It felt surreal to him, he was certain about that. After all leaving behind everything you knew wasn't exactly the painless transition you outwardly projected it to be. When he let his mind clear and the reality of the situation loom he realised that he was letting go of his family, people who had over the years become brothers to him, it was going to be hard to leave them behind, harder than it was becoming the first Undisputed Champion. But in hindsight he knew staying would be harder, because it had become more impossible each and every day to watch her and not have her in his life.

It hadn't bothered him at first she had just been another person backstage, but then every time he turned around there she was and he couldn't help but get caught up in her. He knew he would rather sit and watch her at the control station making sure the show ran without the slightest glitch, than have his match. He had been running late many times to catch his music as it sounded throughout the arena so he could make his entrance, but she had been so overwhelmingly astounding in those scarce moments and he lost himself in her, so much so that he forgot the outside world existed.

But he was always brought back to reality with a harsh jolt when he saw Paul come up beside her and take her in his arms. Those were the only times he envied Paul, envied him solely because he was the one that wanted to hold Stephanie in his arms. He wanted to give her the world. But it just wasn't meant to be.

There had been a chance for them...two if he were honest. The first being when Paul was out on injury, he felt the fire burn between them and he knew that Stephanie felt it as well. That was why they had ended up in a hotel room bed together, exhausted and gasping for breath. It had lasted until Paul made his _long_ awaited comeback. Personally, Chris could have waited longer, years if he were honest, so long as he ended the night with Stephanie in his arms, that would be fine with him. He wouldn't tell her but letting her go was the single most agonizing thing he had ever had to do, not that he had any say in the matter. No, Stephanie had ended it because in her own words, _'It's to risky Chris, I can't take the chance of Hunter finding out and hurting you…I…I lov…care about you to much to let you get hurt.'_ Her words still mocked him – didn't she know that her leaving him was what hurt the most? That seeing her in _Paul's_ arms, walking by _his_ side, cheering _him_ on at ringside killed him every time? And just like it had begun, it was over and he was left a lesser man.

He figured he just needed Stephanie in his life so he could breathe, because to him she was his morning and night, moon and earth, ying and yang...basically she was everything that kept him going.

He could have had her too, if only he had followed through and not let Paul's word be law. He could have fought for her and he had at the start, that was why he had proposed the idea of the 'Affair Storyline', but that hadn't gone the way he wanted it to. When he had spoke the words, _'Vince, it makes sense for Stephanie and I to have been having an affair and the amount of heat it will generate towards us will fuel the fire for the upcoming match.'_ Stephanie's eyes had widened so much that he almost cursed himself for even suggesting it, but he saw the smile seconds later and he knew they could be...something again. But it hadn't worked out, Paul had vetoed the idea and when Vince had asked him if he had any reason as to why he should rethink Paul's proposal for the 'Business Partners' angle he had kept quiet. A decision he regretted every damn day of his life from then on. Who knew where Stephanie and he would be at this moment in time if that storyline had worked out. He knew he would be happy and that he wouldn't be leaving to escape her. He missed that happy feeling when he was around her, and it was like it had slowly died each day until he couldn't handle it anymore. Maybe now that he was leaving he could refocus on that feeling again and not have Stephanie be the main cause of it relighting and soaring through him...it could happen, right?

He could wish.

He often did, but it had nothing to do with finding someone new and everything to do with waking up and finding that she was right beside him. He was pathetic. He had to be if he had grasped onto the hope of getting her back someday. He was leaving because he couldn't take seeing her happy, seeing her happy and the reason why she was not being him. If he looked up pathetic in any English dictionary he was sure there would be his picture staring back at him. But broken would also be a good depiction of him, Stephanie had left him a broken man and he knew he wouldn't be whole again until she came back to him and that just wasn't going to happen, no matter how much he craved it.

Take right now for example, he was sitting on a cold, metal chair, his bag at his feet and she was maybe twenty feet away from him and he knew he should be leaving to start his life beyond wrestling and all the aches and pains it brought with it, but...he couldn't take his eyes away from her. He couldn't leave without taking her in that one last time, her eyes, her smile, her laugh, her body...her everything.

Watching her brought back memories that he tried to forget, but he couldn't help the small ghost of a smile that came to his face as the memories flooded back, drowning him in a haze of better days. Take their first kiss, it had been anything but explosive, he had seen her arrive earlier in the day and had been meaning to say _'hi'_ to her and when he had walked into her locker room, he had abruptly turned back around and closed the door behind him, a half naked Stephanie was the last thing he had been expecting. She had opened the door a minute later fully clothed and she couldn't help but laugh at his expression, he had smiled sheepishly at her and walked inside.

He had apologised, many times and Stephanie had gave him a quizzical look and he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking, well he had been wondering until she spoke to him.

'_Do I gross you out so much that you have to keep apologising so you don't have to think about it?'_

She had been joking of course, but he had stuttered out another apology with a horrified look on his face, only relaxing when she had taken his hand in her own and ran her thumb back and forth across it.

'_Chris, I'm joking. I know you want to get your hands on this body.'_

That was probably the wrong thing for her to say because he knew his eyes had darkened and her gasp let him know that she had noticed and just as she had opened her mouth to say something else, he had leaned forward and his lips caught hers and he would love to say that it was earth shatteringly amazing, but it wasn't. Their lips scratched together and their movements were awkward until he had pulled back embarrassed, he had kept his gaze to the ground and like the twenty million times before him he apologized again. Only this time he felt her hand on his face and that simple act caused shivers to run through him, and then her thumb ran across the outline of his bottom lip and she smiled at him.

'_You got to stop doing that, I get it you're sorry, but I'm not.'_

And with those words spoken she leaned forward and their lips touched for the second time that day and Chris knew then if he was to ever tell anyone about the best kiss of his life, it would have been that one. He remembered pulling her to him and then after...things got hazy for him, but when he slept he could remember every detail.

From their first kiss to their first date...though he wondered, seeing as how Stephanie was still involved with Paul at the time, if it was in fact a date or just an illicit meeting between two people who wanted the same thing. He didn't like to think that it was the latter because that diminished what he and Stephanie had and he'd never willingly lessen something that meant so much to him. Their first date had been simple, he didn't do romantic and making it some sort of spectacle was trying to hard, so he had took her hand and they had walked down Santa Monica Pier and took in the nightlife. When he noticed Stephanie shiver he took off his jacket and put it over her shoulders and she had smiled up at him and he leaned down and kissed her because in that moment she had never looked more beautiful to him.

But those were in the past and this...this was the present and he didn't have Stephanie in the present. All he had was his bag by his feet and a future that was nothing but uncertain. Looking at Stephanie again he couldn't help love how her hair fell down over her face and how the top she was wearing fitted in all the right places and he would be a fool to not love how her jeans hugged at her hips. Maybe he should just go over there and tell her he made a mistake all those years ago and even now he wasn't over her, that he'd never be over her because how could you ever be over the person you love?

Standing and walking over to her and telling her just that would have been the plan if Paul hadn't walked over to her first. If he hadn't walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her and brushed a kiss on top of her head before Chris had the chance to, maybe he would have found some kind of peace in that moment. But all it made him feel was a sickening feeling in his stomach but he always felt that when he saw them together. He watched them talk and he could feel the life drain from him. _This_ was exactly why he needed to leave, it was a messy and ugly part of his life and it just didn't seem worth it, not anymore, not when he had nothing to gain.

Leaving was the only option.

Watching Stephanie smile up at Paul, he knew it was a lost cause she was happy and he would just have to live with whatever the hell he was feeling. He'd never have her again...not like he wanted to and he couldn't be around her and live with that.

He had no one to blame but himself – he should have fought harder, held onto her more, it was the right thing to do but in a moment of weakness he changed the course of his life. It was like that saying _'If you knew the exact moment that your life took a turn for the worst, you would go back and change it in a heartbeat.' _ Chris hated that saying, hated it with every fibre of his being because he knew the exact moment when his life turned into this downward spiral and he _couldn't _change it, so taunting him with expressions like that were greatly unjust.

Standing with a sigh he stretched his sore muscles and took one last look around the arena. This would be the last arena he'd step foot into for a long time, he hadn't figured out how long an absence he was going to take – how long an absence did one need to get over someone as breathtaking as Stephanie? He'd figure that out, he had the time, he had the time to do anything now and that made him feel almost empty. This was his end act, there would be no more Chris Jericho after tonight, and he'd be a forgotten memory in the fast paced world of wrestling entertainment. He did hope that he left behind a good enough performance whether it be in the ring or on the mic, so that the audience didn't forget him in a hurry.

It was finally over.

Nodding to himself he accepted that fact, and let the realisation finally wash over him. He no longer belonged here.

Whether or not fate was playing a cruel joke on him in his last moments he didn't know, but catching Stephanie's eyes with his own was something he wished was nothing more than a fantasy he dreamed at night, but it wasn't and he was lost again, drowning in those blue eyes of hers. And in that moment where he was hopelessly sinking he remembered the good time and bad times they had had together.

She smiled at him and he felt his heart skip a beat, and he couldn't take this when he was leaving it hurt his heart, broke a little bit off every time he let himself feel, he couldn't keep destroying himself. He had to live...but it was hard without her. She was what gave his life meaning. Resolving himself he sent a smile back, although his was more bittersweet, silently saying goodbye.

_Goodbye my everything._

Leaning down he picked up his bag and threw it over his shoulder and then looking at her one last time, just so he could memorise any detail that he had forgotten, he turned away and he kept on walking never daring to look back, because looking back would have broken him and he would have stayed, just so he could catch a glimpse of her that one last time.

It was hours later and he found himself in his hotel room, just sitting in a chair listening to the television that blared in the background, not that he was watching it, he wasn't really taking anything in. This was his life now, this was his life and it felt so incomplete. At least when he was around people he could pretend to be happy, but, well this was depressing. He welcomed any distraction, but there was none to lose himself in, not even the mind numbing-ness of the television.

He drummed his fingers impatiently across the arm of the chair and started tapping his foot. This was pitiful. Humming some tune he heard coming up in the elevator he stood and started pacing, this really was not the way to celebrate his leaving. Maybe he would go to the hotel bar and get blindingly drunk, start his new found freedom with a bang. Alcohol had the added advantage of letting him forget, but he'd never forget her, so maybe he'd take a walk, clear his head and attempt to move on in the coming dawn, it sounded like a plan.

Grabbing his jacket up off of his bed he moved towards the door and then came to a halt at the unexpected knocking sounded throughout the room. Dropping his jacket to the floor below him he moved to the door and pulled it open.

He expected anyone other than her. Vince McMahon could have shown up with an 'I heart Austin' t-shirt and Chris wouldn't have batted an eye, but to have Stephanie stand a foot away from him, having her that close was causing him difficulty breathing, the air had literally left him in surprise and he was left to look on in shock.

But Stephanie seemed to be out of breath herself, her cheeks tinted with a slight red and her hair in a messy ponytail. "Um..." he muttered at a loss for words.

"I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye." Stephanie spoke her voice soft and quiet. "You mean too much to me, for me to not say goodbye and that...." She continued looking down. "…I'll miss you." She finished in a whisper.

Of course now would be the time his mind turned completely blank and he looked like an absolute idiot. "Uh, than-"

Yeah, he was sure he would have got the rest of that out if she hadn't stepped towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him to her and kissed him. He was not expecting the kiss, not that he didn't like it, it was just that it took his mind a second or two longer to kick in and realise what was actually happening. Stephanie was kissing him, _kissing_ him, and what was he doing? Standing there like a statue and not even moving to kiss her back. Why was this?

Feeling something ignite within him, his blood soared through his veins and his arms wound round Stephanie, pulling her into him. This was all he had been waiting for and apparently his waiting was now being rewarded. He wouldn't let her go, not this time, she was his for life now, and Paul would just have to deal with that. Sliding his hands down to her hips Chris gripped them and lifted her up, when he felt her wrap her legs around his waist he grinned into their kiss and staggered backwards before reaching out to the door with his foot and kicking it shut behind them.

He may have left his wrestling life behind, for the moment, but he was only just starting this new life with Stephanie and from the looks of it, it was already starting off on a high and he could live with that.

Now that he had Stephanie, he could live with anything.

**End**


End file.
